A Gradual Fall
by Akasuna no Rin
Summary: Meeting Wallace turned out to be a life changing event for Steven. He realizes that pretty early on. Other things, however, come with time. Steven/Wallace
1. Meeting

A/N: I already have this entire thing written out, so no need to worry about it getting ditched mid story. It's gonna be three chapters of this same length, and as for when I'll post the second one, I guess that depends on the response I get.

* * *

It was the summer of my sixteenth year, and I was on a business trip with my father.

I'm not trying to make this sound more poetic than it was, but to me, it was a pretty important moment, so I'm allowed to make it a bit poetic in my head.

It had been my first time to Sootopolis City when I met Wallace. My dad and I were talking to the gym leader; or at least, my dad was. I was trying to act interested, but it had been a lot of business talk for much too long, because I was starting to drift off and want to go train my pokemon or look at the rocks in the city or really anything but stand there and listen to two men talk about things that I, even knowing then that one day I should care, really did not care about at all.

"Juan, what's going on here?" I heard, the new voice bringing me back to reality. I looked up, not remembering when I had even looked down. A blue haired man was approaching, or really a boy. Not much older than me, by any account. A Luvdisc floated behind him, and as they approached it floated nearer to me.

"This is Mr. Stone and his son Steven. Mr. Stone is the president of Devon Corporation," Juan told the man, then turned to my father and gestured to the other man, "and this, Mr. Stone, is Wallace. I've been training him ever since I noticed his talent with pokemon. He could very well take my place one day, if he had the mind to."

"You overestimate my ability, surely," Wallace answered modestly with a smile. He turned and looked at me, and I had to look up to meet him in the eyes. I was interested in talking to him, but that might have simply been because of my general boredom. I wouldn't have asked, though, as I knew that I wasn't of an age to be allowed to just run off when the business talk started.

Wallace looked at me, and I tried vaguely not to look too bored, but I don't think that I fooled him, even then. He probably wouldn't have attempted a conversation if he'd thought I was interested in what my father and Juan were talking about.

"Do you have pokemon too?" Wallace asked, noticing how the Luvdisc had floated over to me and seemed to be looking me over. I held my hand up to the odd pokemon, one that I hadn't seen before in person but knew by name from books. It inspected my hand when I held it up.

"Yes, I do," I answered when the pokemon seemed reassured that my hand was indeed a hand and went to rest itself on my shoulder. I smiled at it. He stood there for a moment, before looking over at my father and Juan, who were back to talking.

"I hope you don't mind if I borrow your son, Mr. Stone," Wallace said, then tugged at my arm once in some direction. My father nodded at me before saying that he'd come get me before we went to where we were staying the night. I followed Wallace off to another part of the gym.

"What kind of pokemon do you have?" Wallace asked after we'd gotten to where we couldn't hear their conversation. I pulled out one of my pokeballs. I tossed it into the air a bit, and a gray figure materialized in front of me.

"This is Metang, he's been with me since I can remember," I said, and Wallace looked intrigued.

"I've never seen this kind of pokemon, what type is it?" Wallace asked, his Luvdisc trailing behind him as he looked at Metang.

"Dual steel/psychic type," I responded, putting my hands in my pockets as he walked up to Metang. The pokemon, in turn, also showed interest in Wallace. Much like Luvdisc had with me, Metang was soon convinced that Wallace was okay and stopped inspecting him.

"So do you specialize in a certain type...?" Wallace asked.

"Usually steel, yes," I responded, "I suppose you specialize with water type pokemon?"

"How'd you know?" Wallace asked jokingly with a kind smile. He pulled out a pokeball and tossed it into the air. A slender snake-like form materialized in front of me, and I started to reach out but then stopped. I didn't recognize the pokemon or know much about it at all, and I didn't know what this pokemon would think about a stranger petting it. It was beautiful, and while it looked very feminine, the fact that Wallace had it just seemed to fit. They both appeared to have a sense of grace, even though Wallace couldn't have been outside of his teenage years.

"This is Milotic, she's been with me for a while," Wallace said, putting a hand near her head, "I don't know what I would do without her. Not to forget about anyone else," Wallace said, looking back at the Luvdisc when he finished his sentence.

"I-" I started to say something, but I was cut off when I heard my father call out to me.

"Steven, we're leaving, let's go!" he called out to me. Not much time had passed, it seemed like, but it figures that I actually got interested in sticking around right before we had to leave. I called back Metang and tucked the pokeball back with the others.

"It was nice to meet you, Wallace," I told him.

"Same to you," he responded, looking almost puzzled.

I would have imagined that would be the end of the conversation, and I wouldn't see Wallace again. And really, if Wallace was anyone else, I probably wouldn't have. But he wasn't, isn't, and for that I am glad.

Because later the night, when the moon was up and it was dark, there was a tap on the door of where my father and I were staying for the night. My father answered the door, since he'd already been up, and as a self-centered teenager I was wont to move away from the book I was reading.

"Steven?" I heard my father say, and I looked up from where I was perched with my book on the couch. Next to my father stood Wallace, alone, arms tucked behind his back. I lifted an eyebrow at him. He smiled knowingly at me.

"I thought that you'd want to see Sootopolis, since you were a bit tied up most of the day with other stuff," Wallace said, by way of explanation.

"I didn't say I had been," I said, a bit confused, though not necessarily hostile to the idea.

"Juan told me that you had suffered through the entire meeting, so I thought I'd make up for it. Nothing like seeing the city with a local, right?" Wallace said, making a sweeping hand motion that I would soon come to associate with his theatrics. I looked down at my book before marking it and grabbing my bag.

"Sounds like fun," I said with a grin, then looked over at my father, "I'll be back later, I suppose."

"Not too late," he said, then looked at the clock and amended what he said with, "or not too much later."

"Yes, dad," I said, walking out the door with Wallace. When the door had closed, he looked over at me and smiled wide.

"You looked so unbelievably bored earlier that I couldn't help taking pity on you," Wallace told me, and pointed off in a direction, "let's go this way, I want to show you something. You're not adverse to walking, are you?"

"I spend much of my free time mucking about in caves for rocks, I think I'll be fine," I responded and we started to walk.

"Rocks?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm a bit of a collector. I love going into caves and looking for precious stones. See, here are a few of the more common ones that I have molded into rings," I held up my hand where he could see it in the moonlight. He took my hand and looked over the rings.

"That's quite impressive. I've never met someone who was interested in collecting something like that, and I take it you must be very into it if you've got enough that you can actually make into rings," Wallace said, sounding genuinely impressed. I was in turn impressed that he thought it was interesting, because I had partially expected him to dismiss it as boring or stupid.

We continued to walk and talk as we got farther and farther up the crater. I can't remember everything we talked about then, but I do remember the impression he gave me from what we did talk about. He was obviously an impressive battler, from the very fact that he was apprenticed to a gym leader currently, but he also seemed intelligent and his interest in pokemon contests showed a versatility that not many people could claim. Likewise, the respect with which he held all pokemon (though especially his own) told much of his kindness.

Not everything that I gathered about him was wonderful; he seemed a bit vain to me, for one. But mostly I was just impressed with him and wanted to keep talking to him for as long as I could.

So when he held out a hand for us to stop walking, I was a bit unhappy to have gotten to the end already. (I obviously was too caught up in the moment to remember that we would have to walk back). Then he pointed out, and I noticed that we had a view of the entire city from this height, and that the moon lit up the entire city with a gentle white light. Wallace sat down and patted the space next to him. I plopped down next to him and looked out at the city.

"It's a quite impressive city," I said, quietly.

Wallace hummed in agreement. Then he looked over at me.

"It's your first time here, right?" Wallace asked me. I nodded.

"I've been to many of the cities on our side of Hoenn, but Sootopolis and the other cities on this side are a bit outside of my range. That's mostly the reason why I came in the first place," I answered.

"What, you mean to tell me that talking about the set up of pokenavs and other equipment isn't fascinating to you?" Wallace asked me, and I laughed.

"Horribly so," I answered again, "so much so, I imagine I'll spend my life dealing with it."

Wallace was silent for a moment.

"Are you not going to try to do anything else?" he asked. I didn't respond for a moment.

"I don't know. I'm expected to continue the family business," I told him.

"But you don't want to?"

"Well, not particularly."

"What do you want to do?"

"I'd be content to spend all day with my pokemon, digging in caves. But I can't do that."

"Are you going to try challenging any gym leaders or the league?"

"Well..."

"You should," Wallace said, "I plan to."

"You haven't already?" I asked, surprised.

Wallace laughed at my surprise. "No, I haven't. I haven't really seen much outside of Sootopolis and the surrounding waters, much less challenged the other leaders. I plan on starting soon though."

"Oh, well I had just imagined that you'd have challenged a few by now," I said.

"You haven't even seen me battling yet. How would you know whether I could face leaders yet?" Wallace asked, seeming genuinely curious. Much about him struck me as genuine, though.

"I can infer," I said, leaning back on the palms of my hands, "you're apprenticed to Juan, and you don't even seem to be out of your teenage years."

"Eighteen," he supplied. Then he seemed to recognize what I'd said, and continued, "and that's hardly that impressive, there are other people who have done much more than me by now."

"Don't even try to use that excuse," I said, bumping him with my shoulder, "I know you're impressive without you having to try to prove to me how much you aren't." He smiled and didn't respond, and we sat in silence for a bit as I suddenly realized how easily I'd slipped into acting friendly with Wallace. He just seemed to welcome it, somehow.

"I should probably get you back to your dad around now, before he thinks that I've abducted you," he interrupted the silence, and I almost groaned. I had to agree with him though, and so we both began to make our way back to our house.

I spent the way back trying to figure out how to ask him if we could keep in touch without being weird. He answered my problem when we were standing outside the house though.

"Not to seem weird, but do you think we could keep in touch?" Wallace asked me.

"Oh, not at all!" I said, maybe a touch too enthusiastically. Luckily he didn't seem bothered by my eagerness, and we exchanged contact information.

Afterward Wallace smiled, the one that probably would knock out millions of girls' hearts one day. Right then, though, it merely made me feel happy, because I'd made a friend. And it wasn't every day that you can say that.

...

We kept in touch. That is to say, sometimes we'd talk once a week, sometimes once a day, and a couple of times we wouldn't talk for a whole month. I got to hear about his first attempts at taking on gym leaders, all of which he beat, of course. He got to hear about the rocks that I found, and about the time I decided to take on Roxanne. We traded stories plenty; I felt like I knew him really well. That didn't mean that I didn't wish that we could see each other in person. I paid attention to see if my father would be taking any more business trips to the area, but he never had any reason to after the first time.

My problem was once again fixed by Wallace himself.

"Steven?"

"Hey there, how's it going in your part of the world?" I responded, then did a double take when I noticed that his background was different than usual. Usually I saw his room, or a part of the gym.

"I wouldn't know. I'm in Verdanturf right now," Wallace responded, then charged on forward, "I was going to compete in a contest here, and I thought that you could maybe come and watch?"

I couldn't answer quick enough. "Of course I can come, Verdanturf is just a stone's throw away. Why didn't you mention it before?"

"It was a bit of a quick decision. Anyway, how soon can you be here?"

"How soon do you need me?" I said, then flinched at the awkward wording.

"Uh, within today?" Wallace said, for once seeming a bit nervous.

"On my way," I answered, grabbing my bag and yelled at my dad where I was going. By this point, he was used to me leaving at a moment's notice; it wouldn't have mattered anyway, since I was eighteen now and could come and go as I pleased (even though I really didn't).

I tried to make my way through the tunnel to Verdanturf quickly. The trip passed uneventfully, and I ended up outside the entrance a short while later. I started to phone Wallace when I heard his voice.

"You made it," he said, walking up to me.

"I told you I would," I answered.

"I was worried I hadn't given you enough time to make it," Wallace said, picking at his clothes a bit. I realized suddenly that what I was seeing was actually a nervous Wallace, and that was not something I was used to seeing.

"Wallace, are you nervous about the contest?" I asked, tactless. I was just so confused by this new Wallace. His eyes widened a bit.

"Of course not!" he started to insist, but then stopped, "no, I won't lie. I'm a bit nervous. I don't know what's come over me, but..."

"I'm sure you'll do fine," I said, clapping my hand on his shoulder, "When is it starting?"

"Um, soon?" Wallace said, then looked at his watch. He got a panicked look on his face. "Really soon. Come on."

He led me to the contest hall, where he had already signed up and made his way to his spot. I paid for a ticket, which was not nearly as expensive as the upper levels of contests, and also not nearly as crowded. I had a spot close to the front, and I was close enough that if I really wanted to, I could easily talk to Wallace. The contestants ranged all ages, and Wallace didn't seem to be out of place. I remember hoping that he was feeling better, because I knew that he could do well if only he could get over his nervousness.

Wallace was amazing. And that's not my biased opinion at all. He truly was. He won by a long shot. I could tell he was still nervous through most of it, but I also realized that he probably seemed fine to everyone else. He and I had confided a lot in each other; I could tell his moods pretty well by now. When everything was over and he'd been declared the winner, I could tell he was ecstatic.

He was still ecstatic when I met up with him after the contest. I congratulated him enthusiastically.

"I knew you had nothing to worry about," I told him, putting a hand on his arm, "you were amazing."

"You're just saying that," Wallace said, "I was jittery the entire time, it was embarrassing."

"I know that, and you know that, but you managed to pull it off anyway. I'm glad I came to watch," I told him.

He looked about ready to say something else. But then we heard them.

"Oh sweety, don't worry about it. It doesn't matter if you got beaten, it was just a stupid homo. See, look at that. There he is talking to his boyfriend."

I turned to look at the person talking, only to find one of the female contestants, with a bigger guy standing next to her, his arm wrapped around her. She looked sad, but also vindictive, and I could tell even then that this wasn't going to go anywhere good. I started to turn away, thinking that was all he would do.

"It doesn't count if he beat you. He was probably screwing the judges. Every single one. Well, all of the guys, anyway," the guy said harshly, "can't you tell? I mean, what kind of self respecting man enters a contest anyway? And with a sissy pokemon like a Milotic. God."

I started to turn around, but I felt a firm grip on my arm. I turned to Wallace.

"Don't," he pleaded, "it doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does! They're insulting you, taunting you!" I responded.

"Yes, trying to get a rise out of me. And it's not worth it," Wallace told me. I looked back at the other guy, who smirked at me. Wallace was right; he most certainly was trying to get a rise out of one of us, at the very least. He wasn't even attempting subtlety at all.

"Dumb homo," he said, "What a wuss." His friend started snickering. It was pathetic in every way, yet it still made my blood boil that these two could be so rude to Wallace for such a stupid reason.

"Wallace."

"Steven, don't. It's...well, I..." he looked between the two of us.

"What? Why wouldn't you go over there and challenge them to battle?" I asked him, "You and I both know you could take them both easily."

"Because...they're right..." Wallace told me, looking away, "not about all of the stuff about the judges, but...well, I am gay."

I was dumbfounded. I didn't say anything for a moment, and he tightened his grip on my arm quickly before taking a step back. "I shouldn't have said that."

I tightened my fist. Wallace hadn't said anything about this, and I should have felt betrayed that he hadn't told me before, but all I could feel was anger at the idiots who had made Wallace look like that. The fact that he felt like it was okay for them to act like that just because he actually was gay was such a stupid thing and I just couldn't fathom why Wallace would think like that. I realize now that most of the way that Wallace looked in that moment stemmed more from the fact that had just come out to me than out of shame from the insults, but that meant nothing to me then.

However, I think that my next action might have made him feel a bit better. Or at least, I hope it did. It's really the only thing that I can use to justify my actions. I turned away from him and walked over to the two guys. I could almost feel Wallace's confusion and sadness behind me; surely he assumed that I was disgusted with him and didn't want anything to do with him.

He was wrong.

"Hey, douche bags," I said, walking determinedly towards the perpetrators of the entire conversation, "Maybe instead of trying to cheer your girlfriend up by putting someone else down, you could try to be a decent human being and help her train or something? You know, help her get better rather than being complete and utter asshats and trying to make someone else feel bad about it."

They both appeared surprised that I'd said anything at first, then they smirked. "Taking up for your boyfriend, now? Why can't he do it himself?"

"Maybe because he didn't think it was worth it to deal with people as ignorant as you," I continued, starting to realize how stupid this entire thing was, but refusing to give up, "He could beat both of you in a pokemon match, easily, if that was the problem here. If somehow you feel like your manliness has been threatened by him."

"Bring five more men and then it'll be an even match,"one of them said, and they both took that to be very clever.

"How about one? A double battle, you and your friend, me and Wallace?" I continued.

"Whatever, gayboy," he responded. I simply raised my eyebrow at him and I went to inform Wallace of our upcoming match.

He looked, to put it simply, amazed and bewildered.

"Looks like we've got a double battle on our hands, do you think you can handle that?" I asked him, launching straight into the question.

"I- yes, I can," Wallace said, obviously leaving out what else he wanted to say.

"So we gonna go? Let's do it right outside, gotta get this over quickly. Better things to do than this," one of the guys said, standing behind me. His girlfriend looked ready to leave but he and his friend looked stupidly enthusiastic, obviously thinking they were in for an easy battle. Wallace and I nodded, moving to the new battle venue.

"Three pokemon each, then?" I asked, and the two of them just grunted. I assumed it was all that they could manage, with their brain capacity.

I decided not to waste Metagross if I didn't have to, so I sent out Aggron first. Wallace followed suit and sent out Walrein. They sent out a Dodrio and a Torkoal. We were never in trouble of defeat. Wallace and I, we didn't even have to switch out pokemon as we managed to beat each of their pokemon handily.

I remember watching the two of them grow increasingly belligerent as the battle went on, as they realized how hopeless the battle was. They threw insults, but they were weaker than they could have been, now that they knew they were fighting a losing battle, quite literally.

When we'd beaten them, they attempted to run off quickly. I made no move to get them to stop; personally, I wanted them out of my hair. Wallace seemed to have other ideas. Empowered by something, whether the win or my acceptance or what, I couldn't figure then. But he said one thing before they left.

"I can hardly see how my choice in pokemon or the fact that I compete in contests makes me gay. I do, however, see how my attraction to men could possibly make me gay. Don't worry though, I would never stoop so low as to be attracted to you," he said flippantly as they left. There was a silence between the two of us for a moment.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

"I don't know what you're thanking me for. You could have beaten them yourself," I answered, brushing it off. Wallace started to respond, but when he saw the smile on my face, he stopped.

He smiled at me in turn.

"How'd you like to come back to Rustboro with me? Unless you have somewhere else pressing to get to really quickly?" I asked him.

"No, that sounds great. I've never been to Rustboro," he said.

"Well don't worry, you'll have a native to give you the tour. Now, we could take one of two routes: the cave or Skarmory could fly us back," I told him.

"Skarmory sounds better, as long as there's enough room for the two of us," Wallace said, questioningly.

I released Skarmory from his pokeball as an answer. "We'll fit, but you might have to sit tight and hold on," I responded. Wallace looked at me questioningly.

"And...you're okay with that?" he asked me.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked with a laugh, "I'm not afraid of catching 'the gay' from you, Wallace." The look on Wallace's face when I said that made everything better. He trusted me now, and I trusted him. We were friends.

I couldn't have been happier with anything else, at the time.


	2. Knowing

Our communication was a bit off and on most of the time. We'd talk for a long time when we could, but then we wouldn't for a while. Though there were times when Wallace would just call me and talk for a really really short time, and then have to leave. He always seemed to be a little off in those moments, but I never asked if something was wrong.

However, we didn't always tell each other when we were going off somewhere. I was particularly bad at that, and would leave to be digging all day, only to come back and see five missed messages. Eventually I think Wallace caught on that I wasn't necessarily dying if I didn't answer, but I know that he was still worried when I got back.

I'm not sure if he had any other close friends; I didn't. He was my closest, and only, friend. I got the image that I might be his only one too, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions. Not that it really mattered much.

One day, when I was twenty and on my way back from looking around in the desert, I ran into Wallace in Mauville. Understandably, I was surprised to find him so far from Sootopolis.

"Wallace!" I called to him when I saw him, walking up to him. I knew that I was a mess from my trip out to the desert, and the only reason that I was not flying back home was because Skarmory was by far too tired from my trekking about. From head to toe I was covered in scuffs and dirt, and I probably still had sand in my hair, but most of this came in a quick thought right before I called for him, and I thought little of it afterward.

Or I would have, if Wallace hadn't commented on it.

"Steven? What in the world, you look like you've been dragged through the dirt and beaten," he said, a trace of worry in his voice. I smiled and laughed in return.

"I've just been looking around in the desert. Did you know that it's a bit windy there?" I asked jokingly. He smiled with relief, and I continued, "So what are you doing here?"

"I was trying to call you, but I guess your stint into the desert explains why you weren't answering. I'm here to face Wattson. I would ask if you wanted to come with me, but you probably just want to rest now," he told me, and I shrugged.

"I'm really not as tired as I look," I responded, "I'd be up for it, if you wouldn't mind an audience."

"You know that I don't mind an audience. Especially not you. I'm sure you'd just make feel less nervous," Wallace said. I looked him over.

"You've gotten much better at looking calm," I told him, "I hadn't noticed that you were nervous at all."

"Glad I've got that down already," Wallace told me, brushing his fingers over my hair and releasing some of the sand that was stuck in my blue-gray hair. I didn't react to it, though I probably should have. He chuckled as he did it.

"You really care so little about how you look," Wallace said, which confused me quite a bit.

"Well I'm hardly trying to impress anybody," I said, brushing some of the sand off of my shoulders. Wallace made a face and then changed the subject.

"So would you be up for going with me to the gym?" he asked, and I nodded that I would be. We both started toward the gym, which was not too far from where I had come into the city. I knew that the type disadvantage that Wallace had would probably hurt him a bit in this gym, but I also knew that Wallace could easily take Wattson.

So it was no surprise when he blew through the gym and made it to Wattson quickly. The trainers there seemed to remember me, even though I had faced the gym a while back. They seemed puzzled to see me again, but after having to deal with Wallace's ability they were distracted from my presence.

As always, I was in awe of Wallace's skill as he battled. He managed to be great both in contests and battles; other people probably would have been jealous, I suppose, and maybe I was. But mostly I was just glad to be his friend, and be able to cheer him on like this.

He had grown since I first met him, and he stood confidently behind his Milotic when he faced down Wattson. I'm sure I had a big dopey smile on my face when I watched him, and I'm also sure that I wouldn't have been able to explain it if I'd been asked about it. And while it wasn't a cake walk, I could tell, Wallace didn't have nearly as much trouble as someone with mostly water pokemon should have had.

At one point I swear he winked at me, to which I could only roll my eyes. When the battle was over and Wallace was awarded the Dynamo Badge, I walked over to stand behind him. Wallace turned around and grinned at me when it was over. Or, really, I don't think that grinned is a good way to put it. It was much more graceful and kind than the word grin portrays it to be.

We then made our way to the Pokemon Center, as both of our pokemon were now tired, and I felt ready to drop. I tried not to let Wallace know how tired I was, after being out for so long, but he seemed to notice it; he really could pick up on my every little thought sometimes, I could never hide things from him.

So after our pokemon had been looked over and we were sitting there in the main room of the Pokemon Center, I felt myself ready to drop. The conversation waned and I felt my head rest on his shoulder. I hadn't realized earlier how tired I was, but the sky outside was dark, and I had been up and about all day. I just hoped that Wallace wouldn't mind the fact that I had conked out on his shoulder.

When I woke up, I was in my bed at home, and could hear Wallace's voice drifting down the hallway to my room. In my groggy state I wondered how I had gotten home, and managed to roll off the bed and into the floor with a thump.

"Steven?" I heard both my father and Wallace call. I started to pull myself up.

"I'm fine," I called back, pulling myself up off the floor. Wallace opened the door to my room, seeing me on the floor, and I couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

"I was surprised to be in my bed," I said as an answer to the unasked question.

"I can tell," he said with a smile, holding out his hand to help me up, "Skarmory helped me get you back here. I wouldn't have tried it if he hadn't been so eager to take you back home for some reason."

He didn't mention me falling asleep on him, and I didn't bring it up. I dusted myself off and decided I should move out. I'd been living with my father for too long, and maybe all of this was causing me to think it over at an odd time but that hardly mattered.

"How long are you planning on staying here?" I asked Wallace.

"Trying to shoo me away, are you?" he responded, grinning wide and poking me in the shoulder. I noticed my father leaning in the doorway, listening to our banter.

"Not at all. I just need to know so I can plan," I responded.

"I didn't know you planned ahead," he told me.

"Funny. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go take a shower. If you wanna borrow some of my clothes, Wallace, you can. I'm sure I have something that'll fit you," I told him, gathering some clean clothes and heading to the bathroom.

"I already had, but I'm glad you gave me permission," Wallace said, and I looked back to notice that he was wearing one of my light gray button ups and baggier black slacks (which were hardly baggy on him). I only raised my eyebrow at him. "See you."

I waved as I stepped into the bathroom.

...

After that time moved on and we both got stronger. I decided to try moving for a bit, and my father approved of my choice, and while he might not have approved of my new home in Mossdeep, I think he understood my reasons for moving there. It was much easier to keep up with Wallace, at least when I was actually at home. I tended to wander most of them time, and really my home was not nearly as well used as it could have been. I could almost say that I stayed at Wallace's house in Sootopolis more often than my own house.

Things went on the same for a while; at least, until a couple of events broke up the routine. The first of these was that Wallace took over from Juan as the Sootopolis City Gym Leader. The second was that I challenged the Elite 4 and won. Between these two events, we lost contact with each other a bit.

And by a bit, I mean we were usually too busy to see each other in person, but we got into the habit of calling each other regularly. We were both in the same area much of the time, but our positions didn't allow for much movement, and both of us had to stick around. The only time it wasn't like that was when we had our own duties to tend to. Sometimes I would have to double up and do things for my father in Rustboro, which led to me being much more busy than I had ever remembered being.

I got into the habit of calling while I was in transit, which was probably dangerous but I was stupid and wanted to talk to my friend so I did it anyway. Wallace had a tendency of dropping whatever he was doing in order to talk to me, which made me happy that he cared but also worry about if it could be hurting him. Really the only times I remember him turning down my calls would be when he was battling someone; he'd always call back quickly though.

Everything went downhill when we got involved in the Kyogre/Groudon mess. The only upside was that I got to see him in person. Though really, that was only a little bit in the middle of all of the rest of the mess. I stuck around him though, because he couldn't go into the cave, and as much as I wanted to see what was in there, I also wanted to stick around with Wallace. He might have been the picture of grace, but I like to think that I know how to read him by now. And he was nervous and worried right then; more so than I remember in a while. So I hung back with him, a comforting hand on his shoulder as we dealt with the near end of the world (and its eventual saving by a little kid).

Things settled down after that, but of course it did. And with it, Wallace and I went back to talking through devices and in between our other duties. I was being run ragged and I knew that some time soon my father would win out in pressuring me to come work with him. Meanwhile Wallace was the picture of grace; he ran his gym efficiently, and managed to be a contest superstar with tons of fans all the while. I was hardly surprised though; I had seen it coming even when I first met him. All in all, I was amazed by Wallace and his abilities.

And I was tired.

So I stepped down.

When I called Wallace to tell him that, he didn't look surprised. He didn't even seem disappointed. He understood, or at least that's what it seemed like to me.

"I assume you'll be going to work with your father now, then?" he asked me. I sighed.

"Yes. But at least this way I'll have time to do other stuff too," I told him, "Plus, there are other people who would be better candidates for the role of champion than me."

"You're not giving yourself enough credit," he told me with a smile, an echo of our first meeting. In the same moment, I felt both so young and so old. "You became the champion when you were only 20, Steven. You spend all day in caves and think nothing of the dedication it takes. Your pokemon adore you, and you work together so well."

This random burst of praise likely brought color to my face.

He continued, saying, "And you balance your dedication to your father with your post as champion, doing everything for other people, rather than doing what you yourself want."

"Well, I..." I started, but trailed off, not knowing what to say. He seemed to realize that he'd embarrassed me and looked a bit nervous himself. "Thank you."

"Plus, you are one hot young fellow," he said, his tone light, trying to distract from his earlier statement, though he somehow only managed to dig himself deeper. He laughed nervously.

"Oh, sorry to run off, Steven, I have something I need to do," he said, and we said our goodbyes. When he clicked off I knew that he was just trying to end the conversation before it got weirder, which I appreciated. However, the way he'd said my name stuck in my mind. Was it weird that I just really liked hearing him say my name?

I brushed it off at the time and moved on. I was going back to my house to gather some things before going back to Rustboro for a while. Life was going to get a bit more hectic, if only for a few days.


	3. Loving

I went to visit Wallace to break up the monotony of working at Devon Corp.

I won't pretend that I was doing it because of business at all. I was missing him like crazy, and no amount of phone conversations could make up for seeing him in person. We were both still busy, but I was tired of all of that; being an adult didn't mean giving up everything you love in order to be responsible. Sometimes, being an adult meant shirking your work so that you can fly across the region to visit your friend who had only recently taken over your spot as champion.

When I landed in Ever Grande after the long flight, I was ready to collapse and I knew Skarmory was too. So I called him back into his pokeball and toughed it out. As I made my way in, the Elite 4 members recognized me and allowed me to pass by when I explained my desire to talk to Wallace.

When I walked into the champion's chambers, I came upon a very bored Wallace who appeared to be playing with his sleeve. He heard me walk up and started to rise and begin his speech to trainers, but stopped short when he recognized me. He promptly fell back into his chair and waved me over with a tired smile.

"I understand what you meant now, when you quit," Wallace said, not even questioning my presence here, "This job keeps you very busy, but at the same time not. I thought being a gym leader was annoying; now I only see the best of the best."

"Good thing I came to distract you then, huh?" I asked him. He blew upwards, shifting his bangs to the side.

"Definitely," he said, smiling but not moving out of his seat, "I would likely have died of boredom if not for your interference."

"I'm glad I stopped that, then," I teased, leaning on the side of his seat.

"Can't have this beautiful face go to waste, certainly. It's a good thing the valiant prince came to save the princess," Wallace joked back. I snorted.

"You are no princess," I responded, "A prince, maybe, but you are not a princess."

He was silent for a moment and we just sat there, me leaning lightly on his shoulder. I suddenly remembered something through the tired, happy haze.

"Oh, right!" I said, looking down at my hands. Wallace snapped out of his daze as well, looking over at me expectantly. I looked over the rings on my fingers until I found the right one, pulling it off.

"Here, this is yours," I said, dropping the ring into his hands. It was a silver-blue color, a bit prettier than the stones I usually used to make my rings, but it had made me think of Wallace, "Sorry I was wearing it, but I didn't want to forget it."

"What's this for?" he asked, curious. He was looking over the ring, and I was a bit unsure of what to think now that I had done it. I hadn't really thought this over much.

"It's, well, it's a promise," I said. He quirked an eyebrow at me.

"A promise for what?" he asked me.

"A promise that I will keep track of you and talk to you no matter how busy I get, or how busy you get. I'm tired of not seeing you, and I just want to make sure you know that I'm going to truly be keeping in touch now," I told him, then continued, "Which means I'm going to try dropping by more often, when possible."

Wallace looked thoughtful for a moment, and I wasn't quite sure what to think at first. I wondered if I'd overstepped my bounds, but then he slipped the ring onto his left hand ring finger. He looked up at me and smiled wide, and I realized that I hadn't seen him that happy in a while.

"Did you make this one?" he asked me.

"Of course," I said, putting my hand down on the chair. I noticed him looking at the various rings I wore, before looking at the one I had given him.

"It's nice," he said softly. "Thank you."

"Not a problem," I said with a yawn. I quickly covered it up, but realized it would be hard to stay up much longer, since I had already made a trip across the entire region.

"Did you come to see me immediately after getting here?" he asked with concern.

"Yeah," I said. He pulled me into a standing position.

"Go get some rest, goodness. You know where the champion's room is, take my key," he said, tossing it to me, "go put on some of my pajamas and go to sleep already. Your attempt at chivalry is appreciated but unnecessary."

"Good night," I said without a fight. He patted my arm and I turned around and headed back to what used to be my rooms, but were now filled with Wallace's things. The steel blue color remained, but now included various tones of Wallace's own things. I found some of his pajamas, which were much larger on me than my clothes were on him, and fell into the bed. I closed my eyes, but not before noticing the picture of us that Wallace had sitting on the nightstand.

Wallace was a good friend. It's a good thing he stuck around.

...

I flipped through the papers sitting on the desk, running through a couple of signatures that were required. I really had nothing to do today but flip through endless piles of papers. It was on days like this that I had the tv flipped on to whatever channel seemed least boring of the available ones at work. These channels tended to be the ones that featured Wallace in some way.

Right now I was simply using it as background noise to the crinkling of papers and scritch of pen on paper. Until I heard something that interested me.

"Wallace here is both the pokemon league champion as well as a master coordinator. Yet somehow he manages to balance both of these rolls, and even appears to have a love life! Who is the lucky lady?" I heard come from the screen. I looked up, seeing a reporter standing next to Wallace, holding a microphone up to his face. It appeared to be after one of Wallace's contests, and he looked a bit put off by the romance question.

"I don't- what do you mean?" he asked, still graceful even in his confusion. The reporter laughed.

"Don't think we haven't noticed the ring," she said, motioning to his left hand, "You can't feign confusion on us."

A light seemed to come on, and suddenly Wallace was noticeably nervous, at least to me. I'm sure he looked fine to the hundreds of adoring fans watching the same program. He held the hand up to the reporter and I could see that she was certainly referring to the ring I had given him. I felt a bit guilty for having put Wallace in this position, and also wondered how he would explain it away.

"This isn't an engagement ring or a wedding ring," he said simply.

"Oh really? You expect us to believe that a catch like you hasn't been snatched up by now?" she joked. He smiled his typical charismatic smile.

"Surely not, or at least someone should inform me if I have been," Wallace responded in the same joking tone. I could tell he wanted to talk about something else, but was having to deal with the vapid news report that this woman likely wanted.

"Are you telling me that you're-" the reporter gasped theatrically in a way that made me want to claw my eyes out "-available?"

"I don't think I would call myself that either," Wallace said offhandedly, obviously hoping the conversation would move on but knowing it wouldn't. I was intrigued now at what he meant by that comment though, so I was slightly grateful when the woman continued.

"What would you call yourself then? If not available but not taken," she asked, clearly happy to be the one getting this dish. Wallace appeared to consider the question for a moment, then answered.

"I am interested in someone, but I don't think this someone is interested back," Wallace answered, going for the simple route. I was confused though, and a little hurt, that I hadn't heard of this person before though. I'd known Wallace for almost eight years by now, and he hadn't mentioned being interested in someone else in all of that time.

"Not interested in you?" she responded, affecting an overly confused tone, "what kind of monster is this?"

"No monster," Wallace said, obviously counting his words carefully, "I think this person simply does not find me their type."

I noticed him skimming around pronouns and realized how much of a minefield this must be for him. I wished I could have been there with him when he dealt with this in the first place. Maybe my presence would have persuaded the reporter to talk of something different.

"Have you asked her yet?" she asked, oblivious to his word games.

"I have not," Wallace said, "but I can assume, from my knowledge, that there would not be any reciprocation."

"Assuming? C'mon, you're a hero, the great Wallace, you should be able to speak up," she said, leaning close to him, only for him to step away from her in a seemingly natural way.

"I don't want to ruin what we already have," Wallace said, "and I do know them well enough to realize that I am not their type." Wallace ended this statement with a note of finality that none of his other statements had carried. He was clearly done with this conversation; what's more, I could tell that he was not only nervous now, but also sad and upset. I wasn't sure how he came off to everyone else, but that's how he seemed to me. I also knew that I needed to call him, asap. I didn't even care that he hadn't told me at this point; anyone who would hurt him in such a way deserved a talking to.

The reporter seemed ready to barrel on and keep prying, and seeing as how this appeared to be a live show I knew that my call wouldn't be beneficial to just me. My phone rung for a moment to me before it started going off for him as well, on the screen. He seemed surprised at first, to see me calling him, then looked over at the reporter.

"I'm sorry, I need to take this," Wallace said seriously, taking a step back. Wallace pressed the answer button and suddenly his face was on both my tv and the phone's screen. He was already out of the shot by that time though as he quickly made his escape from the reporter.

"What's up?" he asked me, and I grinned at him quickly.

"Glad to be away from that reporter?" I asked him, and he looked surprised.

"I didn't know you watched this garbage," Wallace said, looking back over his shoulder to where the reporter must have been. On the screen I heard her talking about Wallace's upcoming match the next day.

"Wallace, this garbage is pretty much the only thing I _do_ watch," I told him, picking up the remote and flipping off the tv. The reporter's voice suddenly stopped filling the room. Wallace smiled back at me.

"Is that the only reason you called, then? To rescue me from the horrible reporters?" Wallace asked me.

"Not really, no, it was just a convenient side effect," I told him, "I was actually wondering...who were you talking about on there?"

Wallace's face suddenly fell, like this was exactly what he didn't want.

"It doesn't matter," Wallace told me.

"Yes it does," I responded quickly, "Because this person has obviously hurt you and I really need to talk to him because anyone would be lucky to have you and he needs to know that."

Wallace started laughing then, and it was a sort of pitiful thing, really, even then, because it was laughter but it was also so sad. I was so bewildered and didn't have any idea how to respond when he laughed like that.

His laughter came to a stop and he looked at me. "I really don't think it matters," Wallace said, and before I could interrupt, he said, "Anyway, do you think you could make it to my next match, it's really short notice bu-"

"Yes," I said quickly, cutting him off. His face conveyed his surprise at my quick answer.

"Well, it's in Lilycove and it's tomorrow, so I'm not sure if you can manage it, since you appear to be a work right now and-"

"No, really, Wallace. If you want me there then I can be there," I told him, standing up and grabbing my jacket. It would be a long trip but I could make it if I left now and slept on the way. I was sure that Skarmory could handle it, as these kinds of trips were becoming standard procedure by now.

"Don't push yourself though, if you can't make it it's fine," Wallace said, and I snorted.

"Of course I can make it," I answered, walking out of the office space I was in. The workers in the area outside looked up when they heard me talking, but turned away when they noticed my phone. I dropped by my father's door and stepped in, telling my father what I was doing and that I didn't know how long I'd be gone. He didn't even blink an eye at my sudden leave, which probably told you something about how often this kind of thing happened. He only told me to be careful and I was out the door. Wallace was still on the line, so I told him I'd call him back when I was close to Lilycove, and then turned off the phone.

I released Skarmory once I was outside of the building. I put my hand on his side. "Okay buddy, are you up for a long trip? We're going to be going to Lilycove this time, and I need to be there by tomorrow, okay?" I told him, never quite sure if he understood or not, though it seemed to me that he did. He lowered a wing to help me up, and away I was. I knew it was likely that I would doze off on the trip so as to not be completely wiped out tomorrow, and I also trusted Skarmory to keep me from falling off. I'd done it before, and even if those naps were never quite restful, they still did the job.

I settled in for a long ride and found myself pondering over Wallace and his apparent love interest that I had never known of. At first I had been bothered by the fact that he hadn't told me, but now I wasn't quite sure what to think. Now it was like I wasn't upset that he hadn't told me that this person existed, but rather that this person existed at all. I would almost say that I felt jealous, but I didn't understand what the even had to do with anything. Was I jealous of the fact that he hadn't told me anything? That wasn't how it worked though, so I couldn't fathom at all what I could possibly be jealous of.

Somehow, I realized, Wallace had never told me about his interest in people. I knew that he preferred men, but I had never heard of a specific man that he had been attracted to. The closest I had come to hearing anything about what his "type" was, was when he jokingly flirted with me. But that was all a joke, and I had never really thought anything of it.

The only time I remember thinking much about it was when I had been talking to him on the phone while around some of the other workers at Devon Corp, that after we stopped talking the other workers asked me why I put up with his flirting. I explained to them that it was only a joke, and that it really didn't bother me, since he didn't mean anything by it.

But I'd never thought about what it would mean if he hadn't been joking. And in the moment when that thought first came to me I suddenly thought about the idea of Wallace being attracted to me. He had called me attractive before, but I had always assumed it was a joke. As I thought about what it would be like if all of that wasn't a joke, and I thought about it, I realized something: I wouldn't have really minded.

This realization caused me to jolt a bit in my spot on Skarmory, which caused Skarmory to twist a bit in the sky and let out a sound of annoyance. I reached forward to scratch his neck and apologize, promising him that I'll try to think more calmly now.

It seemed like there was someone out there who already had his attention, so this realization really came at the wrong time. Someone out there that he didn't want to ruin his relationship with, who he was sure did not find him their type... Who he refused to tell me who it was after I told him I needed to talk to him, tell him how lucky he would be to have Wallace... The laugh he gave after I told him that, sad all at the same time that it was supposed to be happy...

Oh.

...

Somehow I managed to get to sleep, though the sleep was fitful and I woke up several times during the trip. That was probably for the better, though, because it allowed me to reposition myself and not fall. When I found myself getting close to Lilycove I pulled out my phone and called Wallace, but pressed a button so that it only allowed sound. I wasn't quite ready to be seen, and the picture of me while riding on Skarmory was hardly a flattering one.

"Hello?" Wallace answered.

"I'm getting close," I told him.

"Don't want me to see you midair?" he asked with a laugh.

"I know how you are. You'd only chastise me for the condition of my hair," I told him.

"Only a little bit."

"At least you agree."

"Oh, well, it's getting close to time, so I won't be able to come meet you, but you can grab your pass in the front, they'll show you where to stand," Wallace answered my earlier question.

"Oh, do I get to stand on the floor this time?" I asked, impressed.

"Yes, I thought it'd be a better spot, and you usually have to try to navigate your way down to me after the contests anyway. There'll be a lot of people, so I thought we'd just skip that this time. You'll be over on the side next to the field. Hope you don't mind them talking about you, they tend to gossip about the people on the floor a bit," Wallace explained to me.

"I've got that covered. I'm the son of a company president, I've gotten a little bit used to it. So don't worry about me. Since I won't see you before, I'll tell you good luck now and that I'll be there in a few minutes," I said, ready to end the conversation.

"Okay, I need to go anyway now, so see you later!" Wallace said in a rush, hanging up the phone quickly as I landed Skarmory right in front of the contest hall. It was much bigger than the first contest of Wallace's I'd gone to, but that only goes to show how much better he'd gotten since then.

I called Skarmory back into his pokeball to rest as I walked into the hall, straightening my hair and clothes as I did. When I walked up to the front I said my name and the lady sitting there nodded and handed me a pass. She pointed me down a hall and gave me directions to where I was to stand. I thanked her and made my way down the hall, attempting to brush myself off a bit more.

When I came out to the light and the open area where the contest itself was taking place it was pretty easy to figure out where I was supposed to be standing. They had just started to announce the contestants in this match, with Wallace coming first. As he walked in confidently, I noticed him look over to the side. I hurried up so that he caught my eye as I rushed over to the spot and waved to him. His grin grew and he nodded his head at me, then turned and looked forward. His opponent was called out, and they were told to release their pokemon.

Wallace sent out Milotic, and the opponent let out a Ninetails. Even without a type advantage Wallace could have easily beat the other; however, that just allowed for him to focus more on his presentation. He hardly even had to try, but that's simply the way it always seemed like to me. And I realized suddenly while I was watching, I realized where all of his fans were coming from. I had always been one of his fans, and I had just never thought about it. Because he was amazing, he excelled in everything he did. He was the champion, and he could bowl people over with his abilities in contests as well. And he looked good while doing all of it.

The sudden realization hit me that he was attractive, and I'd just never thought about it. He'd called me attractive plenty of times, but I hadn't thought a thing about it. I recognized that others thought him attractive, but had never thought about it myself.

Not only that, but he was my friend. I knew him. I knew what he was like and I knew what he liked and what he didn't. I'd known him so long that I just couldn't fathom life without him. And I could remember my loneliness when I was wasn't with him or when I couldn't see him for a while.

After all of this thinking, I was hit with a desire to kiss him, to see what it would be like to kiss him. I tried to dismiss it, and tried to remember that Wallace probably didn't actually like me, and that I was probably only jumping to conclusions.

It didn't seem to matter to me.

Wallace came out victorious, of course. I had never been worried, and when it was over I could tell he wasn't surprised. But he carried himself with grace, walking over to his opponent and congratulating him on his performance. The opponent's friends ran over to him from the side and started trying to encourage him after his defeat. I felt awkward, standing over on the side, so I started to walk up to where Wallace had gone back to his side. He smiled when he saw me walk up, and I smiled back.

Before I knew it, I was right in front of him. I was again struck with the impulse to kiss him, and I looked up at him again. A billion thoughts ran through my head as I stood there, doubts and impressions and admonitions, before I finally decided my course of action.

Before I could think another thing, my arms were around his neck and my lips on his. I noticed how I had to go on tiptoe; never before had I thought about our height difference like this.

As soon as I did it, maybe even before, Wallace reacted. When our mouths met he made a very undignified squeaking noise, throwing his arms up next to my shoulders in surprise. This wasn't the immediate reaction that I had hoped for, so I pulled away quickly. I took a step back, almost tripping over my own feet.

"I-"I really didn't know what to say, scared now that I had read it wrong and that I had totally screwed up our friendship. So I just shut my mouth, afraid to screw it up even more. Wallace seemed to be over his initial surprise, or at least the surprise that made it hard for him to do anything. He looked at me, wide eyed.

"You..." he started to say something, but then must have noticed my dazed and afraid look. Because he then put his hands on my shoulders and leaned down, kissing me. My arms dangled at my sides this time, as he pulled away too quickly for me to react.

"When you were talking to the reporter the other day...you were talking about me, weren't you?" I asked him quietly, looking off to the side, completely unaware of the billions of eyes on us at this very moment. As cheesy as it sounded, I was really only thinking about Wallace.

"Yes," Wallace answered, "and you wanted to tell yourself how much of an honor it would be to date me. What-what happened?"

The stutter was my clue in that he was confused and unsure of how to act right now, for once.

"I thought some things over," I told him, aware of the fact that he had not moved his hands from my shoulders since the kiss, "and it turns out that I wanted to be the one you were talking about."

"You did," he said, a bit dumbfounded.

"All of this time, you weren't joking when you flirted with me," I asked, "were you?"

"I... thought you assumed it was a joke, so I thought it was okay to continue and hope that one day you caught on," Wallace answered, moving his hands off of my shoulders. I caught sight of the ring on his finger, and suddenly found myself smiling. I don't know what I had expected, but this really wasn't it.

"And I think we might be the center of attention," I said, suddenly remembering where we were and starting to step away from Wallace.

"Don't leave me alone now, they'll eat me alive," he said, catching hold of one of my hands as I stepped away. I barely thought it over before I stepped back. I would probably do anything that Wallace asked of me, like face crazy reporters or fly across the region in a day.

"I'm not leaving," I told him, as I saw the various people approaching to talk to Wallace about is win and, presumably, about the new line of gossip that had just unfolded in front of everyone there.

He squeezed my hand, and I was glad to be there. I was glad to be his friend. Most of all, I was glad I had finally come to my senses.

"Where are we going, Wallace?" I asked as he led me through the streets of Sootopolis, hand in hand. He looked back at me.

"You mean you don't recognize it?" he asked me as we continued walking upwards.

"Uh, no...I-" I started to say, but then it came to me. We were following the same path as we had when we'd first met, when he'd taken me to see the city. Since then I'd been in the city multiple times, and knew it pretty well; most of those times I had been with Wallace. When I followed him up the steps I realized that I hadn't really been paying much attention to where we were going that first time, instead focusing on the man I had just met.

Wallace smiled when the look of recognition came over my face and squeezed my hand as we kept going up. The lights passed and I could see the moon up in the sky, full, just like it had been that night.

When we got to the right spot, he released my hand and sat down. Looking up at me, I joined him quickly. Years ago we had sat in this very same spot, the first time we had ever really talked. Wallace smiled gently at me, putting his hand in between us. I put my hand over his and scooted closer than I had sat the first time. This only proved to make Wallace even happier, as he leaned close to me. We looked out to see the buildings of the city, the way it blended in with the environment and curved slowly upwards. The light reflected off of everything, making it easy to make out the city.

"Imagine, years ago, I met a boy, sixteen years old, who was here for the first time because of his father's business. For some reason, I found him intriguing, and couldn't quite let him escape my grasp. So I went and found where he was staying so that I could take him on a pseudo-romantic outing to see the city by moonlight," Wallace murmured, almost to himself, sitting so close that he needed speak no louder for me to be able to hear it, "And somehow, I managed to keep the boy's interest for long enough that we were able to become friends."

"And that boy wouldn't understand for the longest time why it was that he hated being apart from him even for short periods of time, especially not for the terrible amounts of time that he had to go without him," I rambled, not even quite sure if I made sense. I felt Wallace hum in response, so I suppose he understood what I meant.

We sat in silence for the longest time. I might have dozed off if not for the fact that I didn't want to miss a moment, so I sat there, content just to be around Wallace. I felt a kiss on the top of my head. We had already been so close before all of this, that it came as no surprise to anyone else and was not hard to shift into a more romantic relationship. I guess we'd just been falling into it without me even realizing. I looked forward to many more weeks, months, even years spent like this, around Wallace. Happy simply to be wrapped in his arms.

It had been a long process. But it had been worth it.

He had been worth it.


End file.
